HEALTH SEEKING BEHAVIOR TOWARDS MINOR AILMENTS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN MALAYSIA

Objective: This study was conducted to identify the types of minor ailments encountered by university students in Malaysia and the action taken in response to these ailments. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on undergraduate students from the various faculties in a major private and a public university in Malaysia. A researcher stationed at different areas of the universities to recruit respondents. If the student agreed to participate, he/she would sign a consent form and then self-filled a structured questionnaire. Results: Of the 856 respondents included in this study, 68.6% were female and 60.6% rated their health status as ‘good’ or ‘very good’. During the one month period prior to the study, 87.4% of the respondents encountered at least one minor ailment. The five most common minor ailments encountered were headache (58.1%), common cold (42.8%), sore throat (42.6%), cough (40.3%) and back pain (27.6%). The main actions taken were rest at home and self-medication. The most common drug used for the treatment of minor ailments was paracetamol (49% of the respondents). Other drugs were used by less than 10% of the respondents. The main source of information was from parents (63.7%), followed by doctors (59.9%), internet (57.9%), pharmacists (33.9%) and friends (33.5%). Conclusion: Headache is more common among university students compared to the general population. Further studies are required to understand the cause of headache among this population

Educating sustainability through paper recycling in schools

Master'sMASTER OF ARTS (INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

GROWING 'COMMUNITY', PLANTING RESPONSIBILITY, SOWING GOVERNMENTALITY: SINGAPORE'S COMMUNITY GARDENS AS SPACES OF INCLUSIONS AND EXCLUSIONS

Master'sMASTER OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

Why do people buy hybrid cars?

This article reports on the underlying dimensions used by petrol-electric hybrid and conventional car buyers when evaluating a vehicle with the intent to purchase. Buyers of conventionally fuelled vehicles reported that they considered quality and performance as the most important determinants of choice. They rated as least important, the image they derive from driving a particular car and social influence. On the other hand, petrol-electric hybrid car buyers reported that social influence and projecting a &ldquo;green&rdquo; image were most important considerations and quality and appeal were least important. These findings provide social marketers with a crucial understanding that helps in the selection of an appropriate model to promote the diffusion of eco-friendly vehicles. <br /

Long-Term Disease-Free Survival of a Patient with Oligometastatic Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Treated with Radiotherapy Alone

Distant metastases in nasopharyngeal carcinoma are fairly common. While the mainstay of treatment for metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma remains chemotherapy, it is now increasingly recognised that metastatic cases are a heterogenous group and can be stratified into oligometastatic cases versus those with widespread metastases, the former potentially benefiting more from local therapy. In this report, we describe a case of nasopharyngeal carcinoma with a solitary vertebral metastasis successfully treated with high-dose palliative radiotherapy alone, resulting in a long-term disease-free interval of more than 8 years at the time of writing. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a long-term survivor of metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma with oligometastatic bone disease who had received no chemotherapy. In view of this case, there may be potential for other patients with oligometastases from nasopharyngeal carcinoma to be treated solely with local therapy, thereby sparing them the toxicities of chemotherapy

Perception of congruence between music and movement in a rhythmic gymnastics routine

For sports that involve a routine or choreography, music is used either as a background sonic accompaniment or to enhance and synchronize the movement of the athletes. This paper aims to investigate the perception of congruence between movements and music in a rhythmic gymnastics routine from a musical perspective. Contrary to the conventional method of choreographing a routine based on selected music, this research aims to investigate the quality of the routine with existing choreography accompanied by a newly-composed music. A routine performed by a gymnast was recorded and music composed to match the existing choreography based on the recording. Fifty-two participants from a tertiary institution, all music majors, were asked to evaluate two videos which had the same rhythmic gymnastics routine, one with the athlete’s original music and the other edited with the new music. The result shows that a significantly higher percentage of respondents chose the new accompaniment as having better congruence between the music and movement. Most of the respondents also perceived the new composition to be the original music used by the gymnast

Laparoendoscopic Single-Site Surgery (LESS) for a Large Ovarian Tumour: First Clinical Case Report

Objective. To report the feasibility of removing a 10 cm ovarian fibroma via a laparoendoscopic single-site trocar through trans-umbilical access. Design. Case report. Setting. Teaching and research hospital. Patient. A 64-year-old patient affected by a large 10 cm ovarian tumour. Intervention(s). Bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy a large 10 cm ovarian tumour, using a laparoendoscopic single-site approach with a Covidien SILS multitrocar access device and standard laparoscopic instruments. Main Outcome Measure(s). Conversion to standard laparoscopic technique or laparotomy, estimated blood loss, operative time , extent of scarring, occurrence of intra- and perioperative surgical complications, technical adequacy, and clinical outcome. Result(s). No conversion to standard laparoscopic technique or laparotomy, and no intraoperative or postoperative complications were observed. Total operative time was 99 minutes. The patient was discharged home on postoperative day one. Conclusion(s). Laparoendoscopic single-site bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy of a large ovarian tumour is feasible with standard laparoscopic instruments. It is safe and effective, with good results in terms of excellent cosmesis and minimal postoperative pain

Can ShortWarning Messages Reduce Speeding Behaviour? Insights from A/B Testing

Speeding increases the likelihood and severity of an accident, and is the top cause of traffic fatalities. As such, it is important to study interventions such as warning signs and messages that may be able to reduce such behaviour. The main objective of this work was to study the effects of sending short warning messages on speeding behaviour. The study design was an A/B test – drivers who were detected to have sped were randomly assigned into treatment versus control groups. The treatment groups were sent a short warning message, while the control group did not receive any message. There were two types of messages sent – Harsh and Soft. Driver speeds were monitored in the subsequent weeks after the warning was sent out, and the number of repeat offenders and speeds in each group was tracked. We found that drivers who received a warning were 1.3 times less likely to speed in the subsequent week, with the Harsh warning message being 1.6 times more effective than the Soft message. We also found that the effects of harsh messages generally persisted longer than soft messages